[abc]‘Homeland’ May Be Lebanon’s Target for Lawsuit

I actually mis-read Lebanon as "Lebron" in the thread title and clicked.

 

They must be 24 guys. Mad that homeland is better.

 

Homeland is good for Lebanon tourism!

What is next? Miami suing Dexter?

 

Front page of CNN right not is about a bomb in Beirut killing anti-Syrian intelligence officials.

 

“This kind of film damages the image of Lebanon — it is not fair to us and it’s not true, it is not portraying reality,” Fadi Abboud told the Beirut-based Executive magazine...

The reality:
(yesterday in Beirut)







Can someone say Hezbollah?

 

I completely understand where they are coming from. As someone who has been to Beirut over 15 times, this is a completely reasonable statement. They depict Beirut as a dirt road filled, technologically rudimentary city with bustling marketplaces and most women wearing a hijab. Whether or not this is the case in other parts of the middle east and even Lebanon is up for debate, but they depict Beirut completely incorrectly. Hamra street, for example, is filled with restaurants, bars/pubs, and shopping. In Homeland, they show it as a site of terrorist activity with absolutely no restaurants or anything.

Clearly no one here has been to Beirut and the timing of this statement is exceedingly unfortunate given the recent bombing. It has been years (either 2007 or 2008) since something of this magnitude has occurred in Beirut and is driven by things outside of the country's control. I have been many many times and feel extremely safe there.

Beirut was voted the number one place in the world to party and visit by the New York Times in 2009. It has been called the paris of the middle east for years and has returned to it's pre-war beauty. Beirut is among the most luxurious of destinations but the show depicts it in the exact opposite way. What is somewhat hilarious is that the footage isn't even IN lebanon! It's actually filmed in Israel!

Again, say what you will about the materialism and ridiculousness of Lebanon and the fact that this unfortunate event just took place coincidentally, but he is absolutely right to say this and I have been saying it since the season began.

 

Carl, tourism is literally Lebanon's biggest import so it does actually matter to them. It's their source of livelihood. Also, Dexter is actually shot in Miami and the cinematography of Miami is beautiful in the show (despite the show's obvious darkness).

 

Most movies / TV programs have a disclaimer along the lines of...



It is called fiction for a reason...it is not real.


But what is real, is the fact that there are terrorists in Lebanon...and the reason why the show is shot in Israel instead of Lebanon is the show would not be the only thing getting shot, if it were filmed in Lebanon.

 

Lebanon isn't a fictional place last I heard. Stupid threat for a lawsuit though, don't they have anything better to do than get chirped about a TV show in a foreign country?

 

Frivolous lawsuits are stupid. No doubt about that. Just frustrating to see a place completely misrepresented and made to look completely backwards. That's my main complaint, plain and simple.

 

Fixed that for you

 

Are you trying to prove to me that Lebanon has gone through tough times and that things are often unstable there? Again, I get it. I've been there, my entire extended family is from there. I'm just saying that posting videos and pictures of the absolute worst times of the past 6 years can and will paint a pretty grim picture. If I selectively post videos/pictures of the mass shootings in America and 9/11 along with pictures of exploded vehicles and photos of the American army, it isn't difficult to make America seem like a scary place too.

That being said, I understand completely that Homeland is not a show about Lebanon, nor do I want them to waste an inordinate time focusing on making things exceedingly factual. I just found it amusing that, to people who have either been there or actually read about Beirut, the depiction is quite off. That is it, nothing more nothing less. I'm not trying to comment on what shows should or shouldn't do in terms of representing a culture or whether or not events are fictional. There is also no reason there should be a lawsuit, that is clearly overreacting.

It's not just me being hypersensitive either. My fiance who I took to Beirut last year was dying laughing when the first episodes of this season of Homeland came out. She is white and has only been to Beirut once, but that was enough for her to see how absurd the portrayal is. We honestly couldn't believe what we were seeing but we didn't think much of it.


It's not a big deal but when I read the comments here I figured I should try to provide a different vantage point as yours were all rather one-sided.

 

Totally agreed. I point back towards my comments of tourism being their biggest source of income to get an idea of why they are so pissed. For us as Americans (or whatever you may be), it's pretty asinine because we realize it's television and completely fictional. For them, however, as the show gets more popular and the word 'Beirut' gets tossed around, this may be some people's first introduction to the city and it's a pretty sh-tty one. That hurts their industry. I understand where they are coming from but from our vantage point it's just a sad, sad attempt that will clearly fail.

However, this is akin to someone depicting Houston as a town of 400 pound behemoths riding horses from market to market (i.e. taking some factual data and taking it to an absolutely extreme level). Not everyone in Houston is fat (though a solid amount are) and only a smaller percentage of Texans ride horses (though many outsiders believe many do). It is infuriating to be on the receiving end of stereotypes, and I would be ticked if a show depicted Houston as such.

The timing of the guy's comments against Homeland with this bombing, however funny some may find it, is obviously ironic but also horrendous. My family lives literally 3/4 of a mile from the explosion and if they had been injured/killed I probably would not have had a cordial tone in this conversation.

To counteract some of the debbie downer Beirut imagery, I'll post a fun video showcasing Beirut's unparalleled nightlife!

Good talkin with ya Tinman, thanks for being reasonable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hxTK1Hy8B8

 

Maybe they should catch up to the rest of the world and buy a TV? Perhaps after watching a few shows, they may understand the meaning of cinema.

Just because they are butt hurt that their country is portrayed as a violent place (which, in reality, it kinda is), doesnt mean they can go off suing anyone they please. Its a wonder why they dont care to abide by our laws, or anybody's laws except their own, unless it benefits them.

 

I have to admit that Lebanon is one of the nicer countries in the Middle East, for now. Once the Islamic Brotherhood and Arab Spring reaches there it will be down hill for the Paris of the Mid East.

Great food too.

 

I am still planning to go to Beirut. I had two guys from Lebanon in my MBA program and they were cool. Also know some Lebanese girls and they are really beautiful. I heard that Beirut is a real party capital. Too bad about the terrorist acts there.

P.S.: Way too many people in the Middle East don't understand the concepts of free speech and of fiction on TV/movies. Threatening to sue and demanding an apology is stupid.